Co–Track Chairs
- João Joanaz de Melo, Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal.
jjm@fct.unl.pt - Tamás Pálvölgyi, Department of Environmental Economics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
palvolgyi.tamas@gtk.bme.hu - Andreas Andersson, Department of Ecotechnology and Sustainable Building Engineering, Mid Sweden University, Sweden.
Andreas.Andersson@miun.se - Wan Shafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar, Institute of Climate Change, National University of Malaysia (UKM), wanshafrina@ukm.edu.my
Goals and Areas of the Track
We live in troubled times with many societal challenges. Covid imposed large challenges and generated some new solutions, but it seems we have not learned enough from those lessons. Now we face a world crisis (affecting energy, all manner of resources, the economy as a whole) caused by the war in Ukraine. Some aspects of energy transition may actually be enhanced, but the overall effect on climate change is clearly deleterious.
There is no sustainable future without changing our collective mentalities and behavior. The growing human population (even with better technology, which has proved to be a help but not a panacea), the consumer’s needs and the multinational value chains are the main drivers of the increasing resource use. Conservative ecologic footprint calculations (which do not account for non-renewable resource consumption or persistent pollution), indicate that we are already using up renewable resource flows equivalent to 1.5 planets. Planetary boundaries are a reality we must contend with sooner rather than later. Greenhouse gas emissions in particular account for a large part of the resource consumption overshoot.
The range of impacts of climate change is now better known to science, although we should be aware of relevant uncertainties. Humankind responsibility on climate change is explicitly acknowledged by the political and international community, but, as outlined by IPCC’s latest report, the decarbonization commitments of the NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) of the Paris Agreement are not enough to comply with set goals — let alone their implementation.
We need to create a sense of urgency that can be translated into action, particularly with segments of society that have a different outlook towards the future: youth, progressive business, politicians with the will to change society rather than marketing cosmetic (“green washing”) changes.
In this track of ISDRS 2023 we wish to discuss effective approaches to climate change solutions, on different sectors, particularly on sustainable energy , water and land use and their changes in the energy-water-land use nexus. What works? What are the best science-driven practices? How can we foster real, long-term change? What are the priorities? Who are the key target-groups which we, as a scientific community, must engage and help to action?
Contributions from the following areas are welcome:
– Advances in the mapping of the carbon cycle;
– Strategies to cope with the energy-climate-water-land nexus, with an emphasis on integrated solutions for complex problems, considering local, regional, national, transnational and global levels;
– Strategies and incentives to promote energy savings and improve energy efficiency, the cornerstone of energy policy;
– Strategies to effectively mitigate climate change, including promotion of carbon capture and storage by changing land use, working with the natural cycles, such as restoring natural habitats and other nature-based solutions;
– New approaches to predict mutual impacts of climate change, energy systems and ecosystems, from resource supply to end-use energy services demand, including impacts of renewable (but not always sustainable) energy sources such as bioenergy or hydropower;
– Integrated methods and tools, e.g. integrated assessment modelling, quantitative data, indigenous knowledge, risk assessment;
– Communication of impacts of climate change, related environmental damages, but also success stories of projects and policies to decision-makers and other key actors;
– Environmental, economic and social determinants of climate change vulnerability and adaptation.
Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track
Each proposed abstract (in connection to an area pointed out above) of between 300 and 500 words (including all aspects),
- shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g. intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
- does not need to, but can include references
- shall provide in a final section
a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
b. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference “Half-way through Agenda 2030: Assessing the 5Ps of SDGs (people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership)“
Abstracts which do not outline points 3.a.) AND 3.b.) might be considered less relevant in the Review.
Potential publication channels
Depending on the number and quality of contributions, several publication opportunities have already been envisaged.